


The Box, The Fox, And The Key

by ineffable_pansexual



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Crowley is Anthony, M/M, Slow Burn, aziraphale is Zira, i don’t know how to tag, theres a fox, uhhhh, umm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:14:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26914225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineffable_pansexual/pseuds/ineffable_pansexual
Summary: Anthony (crowley) is on a hunt for a fox when he bumps— more like stumbles,— into Zira (aziraphale) a stable boy. having much in common, they go on an adventure to find the fox together. Also, smut.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i’m still writing this so idk how many chapters there will be. also: some chapters will come with new tags. I’m also trying to balance school and writing so the next chapters might take a while to be put up, but please bare with me, it will be up as soon as possible :)

The morning was silent and foggy, you could hear the trickle of a river in the distance, the swish of the trees in the wind and crunch of the leaves as an orange fox was waking up and walking gracefully, light as a feather upon the heavy, rained-on grass. You could hear the jingle of the pendant around the fox’s neck as the fox walked over to a nearby tree stump that looked down upon the valley. in the distance you could see a little old cottage that sat by a pond, and that’s where our story begins.

•

“ANTHONY, JONATHAN, BREAKFAST IS READY.” Mrs.Smith yelled as she was putting freshly cooked fish on a third plate with some toast. The room smelled a delight when Thomas and Jonathan came down for breakfast. Mrs.Smith had opened the window and you could feel the breeze, though they didn’t mind it, having grown up in the forest.

“Thanks mum, this is really good!” Anthony said while stuffing his face with fish. Anthony was 16, rather skinny, but good with a sword, while Jonathan was 18 and had a little more muscle, and was good with a bow. Both boys had grown up in the forest and had taken a liking to hunting and fishing. 

“Now you boys eat up if you are going moose hunting today, I don’t want you going hungry.” Mrs.Smith said, shoving more food onto both boy’s plates and onto her own.

Mrs.smith was a plump woman that loved to cook. She cooked everything the boys brought home from hunting, like rabbits, moose, fish, deer and whatever other things they caught on one of their hunting trips. She also baked cookies, cakes and everything from A to Z. Jonathan would go into the town on the other side of the valley and would bring back supplies like hay for their horses, extra flour and sugar, coal and new clothes he bought with money from the fish they caught and sold. 

As they finished eating, Anthony went to get changed while Jonathan helped clean up the kitchen, which was quite small considering the large size of the cottage. Jonathan put the plates in the hardwood sink he carved from a large oak tree. Mrs.Smith finished cleaning up the table and putting the clean dishes in the cupboards.

Anthony slipped a sock on and rolled down his pant leg. He tried switching his legs but they were too long so he tripped and landed on his bed. He put in the other sock and went over to his mirror.

“Today’s the day,” He said to himself while he was putting his shirt on over his head. “Today, I'm going to go find that fox, even if John and mum say that it’s just my imagination, I will find that fox!”

He slipped his jacket on and headed downstairs. John was getting his boots on when Mrs.Smith came in the room “Anthony, i need to speak with you before you go,” 

He turned around and followed his mum into the living room, and sat down on the couch. ‘ _What was this about? Why does she want to talk to me alone? she barely ever does this!_ ’ Anthony calmed himself down. He didn't know what this was about so he shouldn’t panic yet...right?

“Anthony?” Mrs.Smith asked.

“hmm?” Anthony looked up at his mum.

“i want to talk to you about the fox,” Mrs.Smith said and reached over to take Anthony’s hand in her own.

“I know what you’re going to say, you’re going to say that it’s not real and I shouldn't go looking for it and that i—“ He was cut off by his mother Putting her other hand on his shoulder. 

“That’s not it at all. I was going to tell you that I believe you, because I saw the fox too,” She said this calmly as if Anthony was a wild animal she was trying to calm. “Let me tell you some of our history,” 

“A long time ago, on this very land, your great great great great, you get my point, grandmother came to this land when she was just a little tike and lived in this very cottage. She grew up playing outside with the animals because she was an only child. Her best friend was a black fox, and she went everywhere with him. one day the fox came to her with a key around his neck, and a box that had a little leaf with writing on it. The leaf read “Do not look inside till the light has seen true, till the paths have crossed and till the lost has been found, for then shall you open the box and find your true self”. Your great great great great, you get the point, grandmother didn’t know what that meant, but she took the box anyway. She also took the key from around the fox’s neck. when she got inside, despite what the little note said, she opened the box, and when her parents got home, she was gone.Nobody knows what happened to her because she was never found, but the black fox only came back once, this time not alone, but with an orange fox, the same shade color as her hair. But, there was one thing left, the key.” Mrs.Smith reached behind her and held up a necklace with a key at the bottom. The string that was wound around the key looked to be woven from very thin pieces of sinew. The key wasn’t even rusted, but did look old enough to be thought to be worn down. 

This was a lot to take in in a short time. What did this mean? where did she go? what was in The Box? Where is The Box? So many questions spiraling through Anthony’s mind and he wanted to ask them all, but just as he was about to speak Jonathan walked in. 

“come on Tony, we need to get going if we want to get the good ones! i can sense this trip will be an adventure!” 

“Okay, i’m coming, just let me get my shoes on,” Anthony went to get up, but before he could walk out to put his shoes on, his mother took his hand and placed the key inside, closing his fingers atop it. 

“Take it, keep it safe, and find the fox,” She was looking him in the eye, not breaking eye contact. 

He took the key and put it around his neck, tucking it into his shirt. Mrs.Smith was still looking at him, worry in her eyes. “It’ll be ok mum, don’t worry,” He reassured her. She reached up and tucked a strand of dark crimson hair behind his ear, and cupped his face.

“Be safe.” She said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

“I will mum, I promise,”

•


	2. Chapter 2

“There!” Anthony whispered.

there was a swish of an arrow being shot through the air, just missing the fifth deer in a row. 

“What is it with you today, John?” Anthony turned around and quietly walked toward Jonathan, who was hidden behind a tree.

“I have a bad feeling that someone is watching us, it’s throwing me off,” he said, out of breath as if he had run a marathon. 

Anthony’s ears perked up at that, and he couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't  _ someone  _ but  _ something.  _ He looked around to see if he could spot a flash of orange, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. The Fox. As soon as he saw it, it was gone. He frantically looked around, but the Fox was gone.

“Shit!” Anthony looked back at Jonathan, gathered up his things and started running in the direction of where he saw the fox. 

“Wait! Where are you going?! ANTHONY, COME BACK!” Jonathan shouted as he watched Anthony run off. In a whisper he said to himself, “What are you doing, Anthony, what do you know?” 

•

In the dimly lit forest, if you looked close enough, you could see a young (well, if you call 16 young) boy looking frantically around, searching for something.

“it’s around here somewhere! it has to be!” Anthony said to himself as he looked around. He was a long way away from the cottage now, and even further from Jonathan. hopefully he can make it home by sundown, or maybe he could find a village somewhere near. that sounded nice, at least one night without Jonathan complaining about it being too cold, or too hot. Yes, that’s it, He’ll look for a village, but he didn’t know how far away one might be. He might as well stay here for the night, and go looking when the sun rises. 

Anthony stopped where he was and looked around. The sticks and leaves looked to be quite dry, enough so that he might be able to start a fire. Now that was a good idea! No use being cold all night now is there? He put down his backpack that was made of deer hide and started to gather wood and leaves. There were logs close that were big enough to sit on, but not too big to be too heavy to lift, so he pulled one over to the small clearing where he had set up the fire wood. He reached to get his bag, then kneeled down by the firewood. Inside the bag was a little box of matches that he pulled out, and lit one. Just as he got the match lit, a sudden gust of wind blew it out. Well, that was weird. It hadn’t been windy at all that day, and there was no sign of wind coming while he was collecting firewood. Anthony took out another match and lit that one too, but the same thing happened: the wind blew it out. The wind had stopped both times the fire was extinguished. 

“Let’s try this again,” Anthony said as he pulled out yet another match, and tried to light it. It wouldn’t light. He took out another. It wouldn’t light. He tried another few times, getting more frustrated the more they didn’t light. 

“I give up,” Anthony whispered in defeat. He rocked back onto his butt with his back to the log and pulled his legs up to his chest. He buried his head in his arms and whispered to himself, “if i can’t even light a fire, how will i survive long enough to find the fox, and find my way home?!”

As soon as he stopped speaking he could hear a light crackle and feel heat on his legs. He quickly looked up and gawked at what he saw; A fire. A fire was lit. How was a fire lit? it was unbelievable! Anthony edged forward, making sure that it wasn’t just a hallucination. No, the fire  _ was  _ real! He didn’t know how it happened but he was thankful that a fire was lit. 

Anthony reached over and grabbed his bag, taking out a water bottle, a small blanket, and a bag of homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. 

When Anthony was a kid, he used to hate oatmeal cookies if any kind, but as he grew up he learned to love the taste of oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, but only those. He still refuses to eat any other kind of oatmeal cookie. 

He wrapped himself up in the blanket, which was just the right size to fit around his feet, opened the bag of cookies, and took one out to nibble on. 

“I don’t know how far away the nearest village is, and I don’t have a lot of food. I dropped my sword when I was chasing what I thought was The Fox, and I didn’t bring my rabbit wire, so I can’t hunt. I’m hopeless until I find a village and even if I do, I don't have enough money for food and more clothes,” He looked down at his ripped, baggy pants and his light flannel that had a few long cuts. His long-sleeve blue shirt underneath wasn’t in bad condition, but his shoes had holes in the toes. John always told him to wear more. “make that  _ new  _ clothes.”

Anthony looked up, through the leaves on the trees and into the night sky. He could see the stars. It was beautiful like this, sitting on the forest floor. ‘ _ Peaceful, that’s the word’  _ Anthony thought as he fell into a light slumber. 

In the distance you could hear cracking of sticks as a black fox neared the campsite. ‘ _ well then’ _ the fox thought, ‘ _ I'll have to keep an eye on that one’.  _ the fox stayed there for a few minutes then turned around and trotted off, only a little ways, far enough not to be seen by the boy sleeping under the trees. 

•


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry that I took so long to update but everything I wrote didn’t save so it took a while. Enjoy! <3

Anthony opened his eyes and rolled over, having slid down the log in his sleep. He looked around, seeing everything was a bit damp. It must've rained Anthony thought. He picked up his bag and opened a pocket. From the pocket he pulled out an old battered compass that was given to him by his father before his passing. It was the only thing he had left of him.  
  
It said he was pointing north west, he needed to go north. He picked up his stuff and packed it back in his bag and headed off into the woods. _Thump thump thump_.  
  
He must’ve been walking for hours now, looking down at his compass every now and then, but eventually he looked to the sky and say something that made him have hope that he was not alone. Smoke. He saw smoke. _That must mean there’s a chimney somewhere here, which means that there are people!_  
  
He ran towards the smoke till he was near a clearing. Creeping up behind the trees he could see that there was a little house covered mostly in vegetation, with a door in the front with a cobblestone path leading to a small road in the woods. There was what looked like a garden out back and a clothesline with a hot pink night dress and a big hunting coat. The small windows that Anthony could see were all lit with a flickering orange light. _That’s where the smoke came from, a fireplace! Maybe, the people inside could help me find the closest town!_  
  
Anthony walked closer to the path but stopped before he stepped on the cobblestone. What if this isn’t a good idea… No. he had to do this is he wanted to find The Fox and get home. Calmly, he walked up the cobblestone path to the door and knocked 3 times. He could hear muttering behind the door and a bit of shuffling.  
  
The lady who opened the door was nothing Anthony had thought would live in this little house. She had her bleached blonde hair in curlers and a hot pink bathrobe on. She had so much eyeshadow on it looked like she came out of a circus and the kitty slippers just pulled the outfit together.  
  
“Hello young man, what are you doing all the way out here?” The lady asked a stunned Anthony.  
  
“Uhh.. I- I was lost in the- the forest and I was, umm, hoping you could help me, maybe,” Anthony’s stutter was more prominent now that he was in a nervous wreck. _what if I say something wrong and she won’t help me. It’ll be ok, Anthony, you’ll be ok._  
  
“Well dearie, why don’t you come in, I’ll get you a cup of tea and we can sort all this out,” the lady turned around and disappeared into the house, with Anthony following after her.  
  
Wow. Inside the house was so much different than the outside. For one, it seemed as if the whole house was cut in half, one side all pinks and purples, stuffed animals everywhere and a.. was that a pink glittery riding crop? The other side was like what you’d expect a log cabin to look like, with antlers that hung above the fireplace, but that was only the walls. Along every flat surface was thousands of newspaper articles and cutouts. There were two large chairs in the middle of all the newspapers, and two men were hunched over in the chairs. One man looked to be what could’ve been the lady’s husband, with a short while beard and curved nose. The other, younger one, looked to be in his mid 20s. He had glasses and brown hair.  
  
“Here you go dearie, one cup of tea, I didn’t know how you took it so I brought out the sugar and milk so you can make it to your liking,” The lady passed him the cup.  
  
“Thank you… I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t know your name,” Anthony hesitated, he didn’t know the lady’s name, and she didn’t even know his!  
  
“My name’s Madame Tracy, dearie, but you can call me Tracy. That over there is Mr.shadwell, my husband, and his little sidekick, Newton,” Tracy pointed at the two men.  
  
“Hello, yes, my name is Anthony J. Crowley, “Crowley” taken from my dad, though my mum’s surname is Smith but I don’t like how that sounds… oh no, I’ve rambled, sorry,” Anthony said, looking up from his feet to see a smile on Tracy’s face.  
  
“No need to be sorry dearie, Newt’s just the same, now come and sit at the table and we can talk,” she led him through a door into another room, the dining room. He sat down at the table and laid his cup down, along with the sugar and milk.  
  
“So dearie, what is it you need?”  
  
“I was hoping I could get a ride to the nearest town, I seem to be… lost,” Anthony didn’t want to mention The Fox because what if they thought him crazy and didn’t help! It was safer to just say he was lost.  
  
“Well dearie, you’re in luck! Mr.Shadwell and Newton were just about to go into town for some more newspapers, I’ll ask if they could take you, be back in a second,” Tracy got up and trotted off to what Anthony now thought of as the living room.  
  
Not even a minute later, Madame Tracy was back. “Well dearie, he said he’ll take you, but he said he'd only take you if you helped him load his carriage when you get there. Not too much work, but you’ll need a coat or you’ll freeze. Tonight it’s going to snow, I can feel it in my bones!”  
  
I can do that, but I don’t have a coat, I’ll have to buy one when I arrive in town.  
  
“You’re right, that’s not a lot of work, I’ll do it if that’s what it takes,” Anthony said.  
  
“Well hurry dearie, they’re leaving now!” He stood up and Tracy scooted him out the door, into the living room.

“The lad can’t go out like that now. Here, You can have my spare coat,” Mr. Shadwell had a deep Scottish accent, not unlike what Anthony’s dad had. The coat was a bit too big but it was better than nothing.  
  
“Now come on laddie, we’ve got to get going or it’ll get dark before we get back,” Mr. Shadwell put a hand on Anthony’s back and pushed him out the door.  
  
The carriage was pulled by two black horses with deep brown eyes. The carriage itself wasn’t that big but looked comfortable enough. Anthony stepped up into the open door of the carriage and sat down on the wooden seat.  
  
The younger man (Newton?) stepped into the carriage and sat across from Anthony.  
  
“Are you here for the witch-hunters army too?” Newton asked.  
  
“What? No, I’m not, I’m just getting a ride to the nearest town,” Anthony wiggled in his seat to get more comfortable.  
  
The door shut, Mr. Shadwell cracked a whip, and the carriage was moving.  
Off to town Anthony went, but no one saw the black fox trailing the carriage, not even the horses.


	4. Chapter 4

Looking out the small window of the carriage, Anthony sat back and sighed. This was going to take a while, they’d been on the road for hours. 

“You must be wondering why we need newspapers, well, we, me and Mr.Shadwell, try to find witches and catch them. We haven’t caught one yet, and I haven’t pointed out that Mr.Shadwell is married to a witch but he’ll know eventually.” Newt was rambling. Anthony guessed that Newt was like him: talkative when nervous. “Did you know that this carriage is actually named “Dick Turpin”. You can ask me why if you want,” Newt looked hopefully at Anthony, like he was a dog wanting to be pet. 

Anthony was actually curious as to why the carriage even had a name so he asked the question, “why is the carriage called “Dick Turpin”?” 

“Well, it’s a joke you see, because Dick Turpin was a highwayman, so that’s the joke, because everywhere we go, we hold up traffic!” Newt looked so proud of that joke that Anthony couldn’t not laugh. He looked out the window, and was shocked, because it was snowing. 

“Madame Tracy was right, it’s snowing!” Anthony said while Newt looked out the window without a look of surprise. 

“Like I said, she’s a witch,” Newt didn’t pay attention to the snow, instead for a black animal he spotted out the window. “Did you see that! Looked like a shadow, must’ve been an animal or something,” 

Anthony looked out but didn’t see anything, “Might’ve been a trick of the snow, making you see stuff,” just as he said that, buildings came into view. 

Suddenly the carriage came to a stop and Shadwell opened the door. 

“Well laddies, we’re ‘ere, old towns road. Now you lad,” he pointed to Anthony, “this is your stop, and Newt, let’s load the week’s paper. Not much there so I guess the lad’s in luck. Now go on boy, run along,” Shadwell said as he held the door open for Anthony and Newt. Anthony went to give the coat back but Shadwell put it back on him, “You need it more, lad, just be careful, and here, have a few of my coins,you look like you need some meat on those bones,”

“Thank you Sir,” Anthony said and took the money, and put it in his pocket in the coat. He started walking but realized that he didn’t know where to go. He turned back to ask Shadwell where to go but the carriage… it was gone. How? There were no tracks that indicated that there was a carriage there not even a minute before but he had the coat, so he wasn’t crazy.  _ Well, that was weird. _

__ Into town Anthony went, not knowing where to go or what he was looking for, but he had a feeling that he was on the right path. Behind him, far behind, was a black fox, watching from a distance. The fox couldn’t go into town, but he could make some trouble so all goes as planned. The fox trotted off to the stables, waiting patiently outside the stalls. 


	5. Chapter 5

•   
Anthony figured that it would make sense to go get some food like Shadwell had told him to, so he looked around the wooden houses and stores till he found a diner. He walked up to the wooden door and pushed it open, walking in to find a half full diner and went up to the counter, laying his bag on a chair. 

“Hello dearie, what would you like to eat? Or drink?” It was Tracy. How? She didn’t come into town with Shadwell and Newt and himself so how was she here? From the door to what Anthony suspected was the kitchen came a young woman, looking to be in her 20’s, like Newt, wearing a long layered skirt and a dark blue blouse with big sleeves. She had her long chocolate brown hair up in a half bun and round glasses over her dark eyes. She looked like what you’d expect a witch to look like if you didn’t think they all had pointy hats and broomsticks. She gave off an aura of mystery but also friendliness. 

“Hello? Can I help you?” Only when the woman said this did Anthony realized he was staring. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. I like your outfit,” _yes, complement her so that she forgets that you were staring_. 

“Oh, well thank you, but I meant did you want to order anything? I work here and you look to be lost,” she walked over to stand next to Madame Tracy and they gave each other a look. Anthony didn’t know what the look meant but he was sure It wasn’t bad, right? 

“Actually, yes I would like something. What can I get for this?” Anthony pulled the coins he had in his pocket out and layed them on the counter. He hoped he could get something good, he hadn’t eaten since the woods, and right now food was more important than figuring out how Tracy was here at the diner. 

“Well dearie, with this you can get some homemade moose stew with crackers and a hot beverage of your choice. I see Mr.Shadwell let you keep his spare coat, what a dear,” 

“Umm, yes, I’ll have that to eat and could I get a hot cocoa as the drink? And yes, Mr. Shadwell let me keep the coat,” Anthony wrapped the coat tighter around himself and picked up his bag, “I’ll just be over here at this table,” 

Laying his bag on the ground near the chair, he sat down and twiddled his thumbs. He thought over what had happened in the last 48 hours and realized that he hadn’t even said goodbye to John. He could maybe send a letter telling his mum and Johnathan that he was ok and… relatively safe. 

Yes, when he was done eating, he would ask Tracy for some parchment and an envelope. He would also ask her How she had gotten to the diner. 

_Clink_. Anthony looked up from his thumbs and looked at the delicious smelling moose stew. He looked up at the woman who had brought it over and saw a name tag he hadn’t before, which read “Anathema Device”. 

“Thank you, Ms. Device,” Anthony thanked. He picked up the spoon from inside the bowl and dug in, eating like he was starving, which, in some cases, he was. As he shoveled the stew into his mouth he heard the chair across from him be pulled out, and glanced up. Anathema had taken the seat across from him and was now staring at him, as if she was in a trance. 

“You're worried, aren’t you?” Anathema muttered just loud enough for Anthony to hear. Her eyes were back to normal, and she looked to be confused. 

“How did you know?” Anthony whispered, racking his mind for a time when he acted worried in the diner to see what gave him away. 

“Your aura, it’s grey. You’re exhausted, and sad, but I can’t figure out why,” Anathema pushed her glasses up and stared intently at Anthony. 

“Well, I guess it’s because I’m a long way from home,” Anthony guessed, which was closer to the answer than he thought. 

“Well then, you best get home soon, unless you have work to do. Like, say, catching a fox,” Anthony’s head shot up at that. 

“How- how did you know?” Anthony knew that he never mentioned anything about The Fox in the diner, so how could she have known?

“Oh, don’t look so startled, Tracy told me how you know her, and plus, I can help you find it,” anathema quieted her voice when she told him this, like if she said it any louder people would stare. 

“What do you know about The Fox?” Anthony said through a mouthful of stew. If she knew anything about The Fox, she would be good help. 

“I know that the “fox” you’re chasing wasn’t always a fox,” 

“What?” 

“The “Fox” wasn’t always a fox.” 

“Ok… that’s not that hard to understand,” Anthony thought about what his mum had said just days ago, how his great great great…(you get it) grandma went missing around the time The Fox appeared. But it couldn’t be… could it? 

“Anyway, the diner is closing now, so you better finish your meal,” Anathema stood up and walked back to the counter and disappeared behind the back room door. Anthony looked through the windows to see that it was late into the night. He could see some street lights but the dim glow of the light didn’t reach the ground. 

He finished his stew and drank his (now lukewarm) hot cocoa. Getting up from the table and grabbing his bag, he saw Tracy come over. She gathered up the bowl and cup, and gave him a look. A look that said “things will turn out well” or “don’t worry”. 

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he walked to the door and opened it, looking back at the diner before disappearing into the night.   
•


End file.
